Rangers of Linwood (The Five Kingdoms Book 1) by LeAnn Anderson

when it went from blue to clear, Tesni stepped through, knowing and understanding that this was an indicator that her friend and guardian was asleep.
    “Arya! Arya, where are you?”
     
    
    “Arya! Arya, where are you?”
    Arya couldn’t believe that she was hearing Tesni’s voice. Then she looked around and recognized her dreamscape. “I’m over here, Tesni!”
    Immediately, the girl came jogging up to her. “Arya, I’m going to die at the next sunset. The curse is impossible to break unless Agrona takes it off of me, herself. She said that she would only do that if I came to serve her, but I won’t. Death before dishonor.”
    “Why is the curse impossible to break?” Arya asked. “I don’t want you to die. None of us want you to die. We all want you to live.”
    “It’s impossible because my father is dead,” Tesni said. “Agrona said that only my father’s love can save me. Since my father is dead and has been for years, I choose death before dishonor, just as you have taught me.”
    Arya’s eyes widened. “Don’t worry, Tesni. You are not going to die, do you hear me? You are not allowed to die, because your father is still alive. He has been found, and I will alert him as soon as I am awake.”
    Tesni nodded, grinning. She stepped back into her own dreamscape, and Arya woke up.
     
    
    As soon as Arya was awake, she ran to Ryder’s tent and shook him awake, as well. “Ryder, you are not going to believe what just happened.”
    Ryder blinked. “What do you mean?” he asked. “What won’t I believe?”
    “Tesni has figured out how to manipulate dreamscapes and travel between them,” Arya said, her voice growing ever more excited.
    That woke Ryder up. He sat up and immediately began pulling on his boots. “How did you figure this out?”
    “Because she came into mine,” Arya said. “Not only did she manage to enter into my dreamscape to speak with me, your clever little girl somehow tricked Agrona into letting slip the means of waking her!”
    “Well then what are we waiting for?” Ryder asked, his own excitement growing. “How do we break the curse?”
    “Tesni was unable to get anything specific,” Arya admitted. “However, apparently Agrona has not yet heard about your discovery regarding Tesni, because she taunted Tesni about her father being dead-” This drew a snort from Ryder and Arya rolled her eyes as she continued, “-and then she admitted that only her father’s love could save her.”
    Ryder had never run so fast as he did just then to the healer’s tent. His entrance, not exactly designed for stealth, woke Enid up. “What is it, Ryder?”
    Ryder didn’t answer. Instead, he pulled Tesni into his arms. The girl had been getting worse. Though it had been a struggle, her breathing had at least been steady, at first. By the time they had gone to bed, it had been shallow and ragged. None of them had been sure exactly how much time they had until Tesni had managed to inform Arya, as the bow-mistress had said on the way over, that the girl would almost certainly die at the next sunset.
    Not now, though, and not ever. Not before she had lived a long and full life would Tesni be allowed to die if Ryder had anything to say about it. He cradled his daughter gently in his lap and softly kissed her forehead. “It’s alright, Tesni. Daddy’s here. I’m here, and I love you, and you are not allowed to die yet. Do you hear me? I don’t care what that witch says. She was wrong, Tesni. But then, how could she have known that I’m your father? I didn’t even know until your mother finally told me. But it’s all going to be alright, Tesni, because I know, now, and I love you.”
    It didn’t seem to work, at first, and Ryder found himself wondering several things. Could Cliona have been mistaken in whether or not he was Tesni’s father? Could it be that it was a different Tesni who just happened to have the same necklace? Could Agrona have known what Tesni had